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ScienceMag.org Article; Human impact on the environment
Topic Started: Aug 11 2006, 07:45 AM (89 Views)
Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Part of the discussion in the Inconvenient Truth thread got me thinking about this article from Science. I took the liberty of transcribing some of it, in case anyone would be interested. I posted a link at the bottom for its supplemental materials, but I'm afraid I can't get a free access link to the actual article. I can e-mail it to anyone who would be interested, though.

The article basically forms two conclusions:

1) Since the beginning of human civilization, every coastal and estuarine ecosystem that houses a human population has been subject to severe degredation.

2) The degree of degredation is independent of system size, species richness, primary productivity, as well as human population and growth rate. It is entirely dependent on human stressors, or how much we're actually using the land.

So, in short, human beings are responsible for the degredation of most ecosystems on the planet, but it's not a foregone conclusion that the introduction of a human population will deplete the local environment. We have the ability to be less harmful.


Anyway, in case anyone's interested:

Quote:
 

Depletion, Degradation, and Recovery Potential of Estuaries and Coastal Seas

Heike K. Lotze,1* Hunter S. Lenihan,2 Bruce J. Bourque,3 Roger H. Bradbury,4 Richard G. Cooke,5 Matthew C. Kay,2 Susan M. Kidwell,6 Michael X. Kirby,7 Charles H. Peterson,8 Jeremy B. C. Jackson5,9

ABSTRACT
Estuarine and coastal transformation is as old as civilization yet has dramatically accelerated over the past 150 to 300 years. Reconstructed time lines, causes, and consequences of change in 12 once diverse and productive estuaries and coastal seas worldwide show similar patterns: Human impacts have depleted >90% of formerly important species, destroyed >65% of seagrass and wetland habitat, degraded water quality, and accelerated species invasions. Twentieth-century conservation efforts achieved partial recovery of upper trophic levels but have so far failed to restore former ecosystem structure and function. Our results provide detailed historical baselines and quantitative targets for ecosystem-based management and marine conservation.
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Human impacts have pushed estuarine and coastal ecosystems far from their historical baseline of rich, diverse, and productive ecosystems.  The severity and synchrony of degradation trends and the commonality of causes and consequences of change provide reference points and quantitative targets for ecosystem-based management and restoration.  Overexploitation and habitat destruction have been responsible for the large majority of historical changes, and their reduction should be a major management priority.  Eutrophication, although severe in the last phase of estuarine history, largely followed rather than drove observed declines in diversity, structure, and functioning.  Despite some extinctions, most species and functional groups persist, albeit in greatly reduced numbers.  Thus, the potential for recovery remains, and where human efforts have focused on protection and restoration, recovery, has occurred, although often with significant lag times.  Our study not only provides baselines on the extent of historical degradation, but also a vision for generating resilient estuarine and coastal ecosystems that can absorb shocks and disasters in an uncertain future.


http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/312/5781/1806/DC1
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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The 89th Key
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Reminds me of "Collapse", the book. Kinda...
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Quote:
 
2) The degree of degredation is independent of system size, species richness, primary productivity, as well as human population and growth rate. It is entirely dependent on human stressors, or how much we're actually using the land.

So, in short, human beings are responsible for the degredation of most ecosystems on the planet, but it's not a foregone conclusion that the introduction of a human population will deplete the local environment. We have the ability to be less harmful.

Good news.

We have the ability to be less harmful, unfortunately we also have the abilitly to totally f*ck things up. Let's hope we do the right thing more often than not.
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